John H. Gear

John H. Gear

John Henry Gear (born April 7, 1825 in Ithaca , New York , † July 14, 1900 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician ( Republican Party ). He represented the state of Iowa in both chambers of Congress and also served as its governor .

As a child Gear moved with his parents to Galena ( Illinois ); Later the family lived in Fort Snelling ( Minnesota ) and Burlington , Iowa, where he was working as a merchant. In 1863 he was elected Mayor of Burlington; from 1871 to 1873 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Iowa , whose speaker he was also.

In 1878 John Gear became the eleventh governor of the state of Iowa, which he remained until 1881. In 1887 he ran successfully for a seat in the US House of Representatives , which he successfully defended once. After missing re-election, he had to leave Congress in 1891; the following year, US President Benjamin Harrison appointed him Assistant Secretary of the Treasury .

In 1893 Gear returned to the House of Representatives for a term before he was elected to the US Senate for Iowa in 1894 . There he was chairman of the Pacific Railroad Committee. In 1900 he was voted for by the electorate, but he died before he took up his second term as senator.

Web links

• John H. Gear in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• John H. Gear in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• John H. Gear in the National Governors Association (English)